Relinquished
by laure
Summary: The story of a young slave and his battle with the Shadows. Now edited.


Reposted because I finally got my lazy butt to type the second chapter! -_- ' *world stops turning* *starts again fifteen minutes later* Anyways....  
  
Hello people! *crickets chirp* Or not. And no, I haven't just dropped off the face of the Earth. I've just been having one heck of a hard time finding the time to updated/edit/do anything else that I might possibly want to. The reason? Swim team was taking up most of my time, as it is over two hours every single *censored* night. Add that to all of the homework from my AP Geometry and Honors Science, and I have absolutely no free time on the weekdays. But with proper encouragement, (read: threats) and praise (highly appreciated) I will update occasionally. (read: once month if lucky) Constructive criticism is practically worshiped!  
  
I know that they didn't have horses in Egypt around 3000bc, but they do in the manga, along with other things. Please ignore any historical inaccuracies. (as they have most of them in the manga too) If you have any ideas of how to fix these things, please email me!  
  
And skip the huge disclaimer, if not for my sake, then for your own.  
  
Disclaimer: Laure does not own anything that is previously copyrighted. Everything that is previously copyrighted belongs to their respective owners. She does not claim ownership in any way or form to anything previously copyrighted. Everything else is hers. All Yu-Gi-Oh persons, places, things, and ideas belong to the great Kazuki Takahashi. She is receiving no payment for this, other than personal satisfaction. This disclaimer applies to this chapter and all that follow in this story, as I don't want to have to type it every single time. But I get the feeling that I'll be typing it anyway.  
  
Chapter 1- Shadow Games  
  
Yami watched the star fall through the night sky. Many of his fellow slaves thought that it meant a god had fallen to Kemet to help them. Yami disagreed. He had seen more falling stars than he could count, and he was still a slave. I was not always a slave, he thought sadly, shaking a bug out of his dirty tri-colored hair. Yami didn't know much about his past. His clearest memory was of the day he was captured.  
  
*flashback*  
  
A large caravan was traveling across the desert. There were many camels and a few Arabian horses, along with about one hundred guards. A young Yami was sitting in front of his mother on her horse.  
  
"When will we get to the oasis, Mother?" Yami asked, making his mother smile at him.  
  
"Soon, my little prince. Before nightfall." She was a Kemeten woman, chosen for her beauty and grace. Her dark eyes were surrounded by green and blue kohl, and her shiny black hair was in tiny braids. She wore a white silk robe and many necklaces that Yami played with as he looked around.  
  
"Where is Papa?" Just then, his father rode up. Yami thought his father looked like a god on top of his fiery-eyed warhorse, dressed in the common guard garb, but more ornate. Yami's father smiled.  
  
"So there is the little rascal. I've been wondering where you were."  
  
Yami squealed with delight as his father lifted him onto his horse. Yami's mother laughed.  
  
Yami and his father rode around the caravan examining the silks and spices they had received in Arabia. They had come from the Far East, of which little was known. Yami's father nudged the horse in the direction of the front, near the camels. The blazing sun glinted off of his hair, which had crimson streaks and blond bangs. No one knew where Yami's father had come from, although it was rumored that he was a prince from the Far East that had been exiled. Yami looked around happily, until he noticed something in the distance, a large cloud of dust.  
  
"Papa, what is that?" Yami's father looked worried.  
  
"Go to your mother. Tell her there might be a problem. Go on, hurry!" Yami did as he was told. He ran back to his mother and told her what his father had said. She, in turn, whispered something to a nearby guard. Within seconds the configuration of the caravan had changed. The guards were on the outside, then the camels laden with goods, with Yami and his mother in the middle. Yami wiggled out of his mother's grasp and laid on the ground so he could see through the camels' legs.  
  
Yami's father was talking to a man with shaggy white hair, dark tanned skin, and many scars. He was clearly a thief. The rest of his band waited behind him, including a boy seven or eight years older than Yami who looked like he might be the leader's son. Suddenly, the thief pulled out a knife and slashed at Yami's father. The knife missed, and Yami's father drew his sword and sliced off the thief's head.  
  
Chaos erupted. The thief's band fell upon the guards with a clash of steel. Yami panicked.  
  
"Papa! Papa!" No one answered. Yami ran back to his mother, only to stop in horror. His mother lay on the ground, a large knife imbedded in her back. The thief's son stood near her, about to retrieve his knife. His face twisted with rage as he saw Yami.  
  
"You'll pay for what your father did!" Yami ran for his life, dodging camels and guards. His attacker caught him and pressed another knife to Yami's neck. They both turned around at the sound of a voice.  
  
"Release my son." Yami's father stood silhouetted against the setting sun.  
  
"Why should I?" The thief's son snarled. Yami's father scowled.  
  
"Dark Mage, I summon you! Free my son!"  
  
A figure dressed in purple armor and with pale violet hair and piercing eyes appeared. The Mage was a creature from the shadow games, where demons and monsters fought each other.  
  
"Dark Mage, attack!" The Mage shot a beam of magic out of its staff at the thief's son. He leaped to the side, dragging Yami with him.  
  
"Diabound! Destroy them!" the boy screamed, summoning his own demon. A hideous beast appeared. Yami was shocked. It took an enormously strong sorcerer to summon monsters outside of the arena. And the thief's son was barely a man! Yami's father was surprised as well, which Yami's attacker took advantage of.  
  
"Diabound, kill them!"  
  
Diabound released a blast of energy that destroyed the Dark Mage and sent Yami's father flying. He landed on the ground and did not move.  
  
"Father!" Yami yelled. He broke free from the thief's son and ran over to his father's side. "No.... Papa...." he sobbed brokenly. He heard movement behind him. The fighting around him had ceased to exist for Yami. He whirled around. His father's killer was walking toward him.  
  
"You killed my father!" Yami howled, picking up a sharp rock and leaping at the thief's son. The move caught his enemy by complete surprise, and Yami managed to hit him three times on his right cheek. By then the thief's son had recovered. He picked up a club and hit Yami on the head with it.  
  
"You little Ra-forsaken--" Yami blacked out.  
  
*end flashback*  
  
Yami sighed. That had happened ten years ago. He didn't have a clue as to the identity of his parents, but he suspected that his father was a wealthy merchant, or someone of power. It didn't matter. They were dead and he was a slave. After he had blacked out, he supposed that the thief's son had sold him to a slave trader. He wished that he could have just died.  
  
Yami only had one clue to his past. It was a small piece of gold with a modified eye of Horus on it. The edges were uneven, like it belonged to a puzzle of some sort. He wore it around his waist, tied to a leather thong. He supposed that his parents had been slightly rich to afford something like it. He always had it hidden; otherwise an overseer would have taken it.  
  
His master was exceptionally cruel. He often beat his slaves for little or no reason. He treated his ten wives and concubines worse. The overseers were almost as bad as Ptolomen himself. Teayahk would smack me if she knew what I was thinking, Yami mused to himself. Someone shouted in the background. Probably some drunk overseer, but he tucked the puzzle piece back into his kilt anyway.  
  
A line of fire streaked down Yami's back. He gasped and spun around. An overseer stood there, whip in hand.  
  
"You deaf, dog? On your knees, you slave." Yami prostrated himself on the ground. "You know you can't leave the grounds less the Master says so." Another line of fire. Old wounds broke open and blood trickled down his back. Another blow, but the coarse, dirty kilt he wore absorbed some of it.  
  
"What'd you find?" someone slurred. Yami winced. It was the head overseer. Everyone called him Cyclops, after he lost an eye in a fight. Cyclops sneered. He walked over to Yami and kicked him in the ribs and Yami gasped as he got the wind knocked out of him.  
  
"Stupid slave." Yami felt another blow. He bit his tongue to keep from screaming. Another kick, but this time to the head. Yami blacked out.  
  
~~~~~  
  
He awoke to darkness. He panicked, thinking he was in the Pharaoh's dungeon about to be executed, or used as bait for the Pharaoh's Shadow Games. Then the room lightened and he realized he was lying face down on a pile of reeds. His head pounded, and his back was on fire. He groaned and moved his head to the side. Simon's face swam into view.  
  
"You're awake." Yami frowned as he remembered what happened. "Stay still and let your back heal." Simon was the older man who Yami lived with after being sold to Ptolomen. Faintly, he heard the sound of a girl crying.  
  
"Who's crying?" He asked. Teayahk walked into his line of sight. She had short brown hair and blue eyes. She was several years older than Yami and was tall and thin. Today she was wearing her skimpy dancer's costume.  
  
"It's Miaena. Her master is selling her to Ptolomen as a concubine," Teayakh said sadly.  
  
"Why would he do that?" Yami asked.  
  
"He didn't want to, but he's in debt." She paused for a second. "I'm sorry, but I'm going to be late for my performance at the palace!" Teayahk ran out the door of the small hut.  
  
Yami twisted his head around, trying to see his friends. Trystn was pacing back and forth. His hair and eyes were brown, with his skin being light brown. Both he and Jo-no were wearing the same type of kilt as Yami. Jo- no had tanned skin and blond hair. He had his arm around Miaena, trying to comfort her. Miaena was an exceptionally beautiful young woman, a year older than Teayahk. She had blond hair, violet eyes, and golden-tan skin. Her head was buried in her hands. Yami winced, imagining her as Ptolomen's concubine.  
  
"I've had it!" Miaena stood up abruptly and began pacing like a caged lion.  
  
"I'm not going to sit around and let my master turn me into one of Ptolomen's pets. I'm running away. Tonight." She said to her friends.  
  
"If you're caught, you'll be killed!" Jo-no protested.  
  
"I don't care. I'd rather be dead than a slave." An overseer bursting in through the door interrupted their conversation.  
  
"You four! Come with me!" he shouted, pointing at Simon and the others. "You, Spiky, the master wants you to fetch water for him."  
  
"But he's hurt!" Simon protested.  
  
"Yea!" Jou-no agreed.  
  
"Too bad, old man," the overseer said, grabbing Simon and dragging him out the door. The others followed reluctantly, still protesting.  
  
After they were gone, Yami pulled himself out of bed with a groan and walked out the door. He grabbed a water bag and began the long trek to the Nile.  
  
Yami decided to go to a secluded inlet for the water, instead of the main beach. He wanted as few people as possible seeing his back. The other slaves already insulted him enough. The road was nearly deserted, which was odd.  
  
By the time he had arrived at the cove, he had forgotten all about the road. As he knelt to fill up the water bag, he heard movement. He turned and about ten feet to his left, stood a woman about as old as Miaena. She had pure white hair with jagged black streaks in it and light skin that was nearly white. Her shirt left her arms and stomach bare, with obsidian bracelets on her wrists. She also wore a skirt that divided at mid-thigh, ending in twin V's, the points in the front and back. Both the skirt and the shirt were made of white fur with jagged black stripes that was from far away. Yami though that he might have seen the Pharaoh with a fur similar to it. She was obviously nobility, but not from anywhere nearby, as her pale skin indicated.  
  
His breath caught as she turned toward him. She wasn't beautiful, but still striking, with unearthly aquamarine eyes. Hastily, he threw himself on the ground. After a few seconds, he risked a look. The woman was crouched in front of him.  
  
"Why do you kneel?" She asked in a low throaty voice. Yami was so shocked that he sat up.  
  
"You are of the nobility, aren't you?" he asked.  
  
"I suppose you could say that." She said after a moment. Yami literally flattened himself down again. He heard a sharp intake of air.  
  
"What happened to your back?" she asked, sounding angry.  
  
"Nothing," Yami said slowly, becoming suspicious.  
  
She sighed. "Again, what happened to your back?"  
  
"An overseer whipped me." Yami heard her growl; then he felt something cold on his back. He gasped and raised a hand to his back. The whip marks had healed. The woman smiled, exposing exceptionally sharp and pointy teeth.  
  
"I healed you. I know a little magic."  
  
"You are a priestess?" Yami asked.  
  
The woman thought for a second. "No."  
  
"Then how do you know magic?" Yami asked warily. This woman could be a rogue sorceress or worse.  
  
She smiled mysteriously. "I have my ways."  
  
Yami wanted to ask her more about her magic, but remembered he was supposed to be getting water. Muttering an apology, he grabbed the bag, filled it and ran off. The woman hissed in frustration as he ran off, then shrugged. It really didn't matter, she'd find him again.  
  
After all, she was a huntress.  
  
~~~~~  
  
The streets were eerily quiet. There wasn't a person in sight. Suddenly Yami heard shouts behind him.  
  
"There he is!" "Grab him!" Yami whirled around. About five of the Pharaoh's guards were running toward him. He turned and fled through the streets, abandoning the water bag.  
  
Five minutes passed. Yami had temporarily lost the guards by climbing onto the roof of a hut.  
  
Yami couldn't figure out why the guards were after him. Then it hit him.  
  
Every year the Pharaoh challenged a slave to a Shadow Game, on the pretense of some crime. Every year Pharaoh won, and the loser was sent to the Shadow Realm, a place full of darkness. Yami's blood froze. The Pharaoh must have chosen him to be his next opponent! What was worse, the Shadow Realm slowly and painfully killed you. And there was no escape.  
  
Yami heard voices below. The guards had found him. He leaped off the roof, unfortunately straight onto the guards' arms. He struggled, but he was no match for them. They dragged him to a large stadium made of white limestone. The stands were full of people, nobles and peasants alike. At the far end, the Pharaoh sat on a golden throne atop a block of pure gold with silver hieroglyphs and an inscription of a winged horse, his symbol. His silver shoulder-length hair glittered in the noon sun. The crowd quieted as he spoke.  
  
"Welcome everyone! Today I will be defeating a slave in a Shadow Game who has been charged with treason!" Yami tuned them out, barely noticing a guard shackling his ankle to the stadium floor. There was a deep trench near him, divided by bars. A starving lion paced in one half.  
  
They said that the Pharaoh had been kind, but that was before his Greek wife died. They also said that he played the Shadow Game to convince the gods that his wife was worthy of rebirth. Obviously, it hadn't worked yet. A line of slaves was lead into the arena. They were chained together. Yami stared. They were Miaena, Simon, Jo-no, Trystn, and Teayahk. The guard threw them into the half of the trench without the lion.  
  
"You see, little slave-boy, if you lose, then your friends will die also," the Pharaoh said with a wicked grin. Yami stared in horror as the lion roared.  
  
"Fine, you heartless demon. I'll play be your rules."  
  
"You don't have a choice, slave."  
  
"I will not allow my friends to die!"  
  
Sorcerers filed in behind Yami and the Pharaoh. Slaves set up five large stone tablets behind each of them.  
  
"Begin the Shadow Game!"  
  
~~~~~~~~~~  
  
Yay, you finished the chapter without dieing of boredom! Review or I feed Yami to the lions! Okay, perhaps not... I have read much of the manga, so I know how the plotline is supposed to go, but remember, this is my version. All flames will be given to Sauron for mascara. (Don't ask) And ideas for the canon characters ancient names (Tea, Joey, ect...) would be great, as I don't really like the ones that I have now.  
  
Also, (yes, another annoying thing) if anyone would like to be my beta, I'd be most grateful. I have a great one now, but she doesn't know anything about Yu-Gi-Oh, so she can't tell me if someone's OOC, meaning that all she can do is kill off all of my screwed up past and present tenses.  
  
And lastly, I'd like to thank all the nice people who reviewed last time I posted this. Love you! 


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